Merkin

A story named "Recycle" requires multiple endings.

A wonderful story in the grand tradition of bar tales, plus an O. Henry ending.

Thank you for sharing your writing with us. In this first chapter you have managed to convey a very difficult to imagine mental state. I look forward to what comes next.

Thank you for this lovely story, Geron. It honors love, but as well it celebrates hope, and thoughtfulness, and decency, and taking the long view.

At least we now know who Frank is going to hook up with. Loved the scalp rub. BTW I'm getting a little worried about Rudy's safety.

Dom is pretty sneaky. After all, Frank is the "hero" of this story. But Oliver/David is so fascinating we've all been swept up. I think the real question is going to be, what's going to happen to Frank? Is he going to get out of this alive?

What they said. Both Kevin and Mark pretty much covered my bases. This story blew me away. Not only did it sneak up on me--I'm not subtle and it took me a good while to catch on, but when I did my emotions did a dropout similar to the carnival ride...only to be bolstered back up by the calming influence of Dave to the point where I shared the hope expressed at the end. Quite a ride! A strong, powerful story. Thank you.

The Ryan question is a good one, and a key to the story. Seems to me that ever since Ryan lost his best friend and Toby went into the hospital, he may have become convinced that whoever he loves becomes wasted. Thus, to keep Connor "safe" he withdrew from him. I don't think Ryan will let himself turn back toward Connor at this point.

Gearoid said: 'I feel I have to say though that the mentally ill have all my sympathy. In fiction they become a metaphor for the fears and desires of the author and the audience. That of course is legitimate, but always one thinks of the emprically real mentally people outside the metaphor of the fiction, and they suffer because of their representation. They are even more scorned than we gays.' In some jurisdictions gays are classed as "mentally ill" and receive the full force of that stigma as well as scorn for being gay. I applaud Dom for taking on this topic, and can't wait to see how he handles this exquisitely delicate subject. Frank as Hero is going to have quite a job on his hands.

If we're leaning toward thinking that Oliver and David are facets of a multiple personality, then what if Oliver is gay but David is straight? The evidence so far seems to bear that out... Best wishes, Merkin